The 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2014 So Far

2. The Most Dangerous Book: The Battle for James Joyce’s Ulysses by Kevin Birmingham

Is this book about the birth of modernism? Is it about how James Joyce wrote a strange book that eventually got out into the world? Is it about obscenity laws? Is it about being an impoverished expatriate writer in Paris’ Golden Age? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. During a time when nonfiction looks at singular books are a bit of a trend (ones regarding Dr. Zhivago and To Kill a Mockingbird are in my queue), Birmingham’s book is the best and most crucial one so far, starting with dirty-minded James Joyce going blind, and ending with a world that’s changed forever and a book that you have to read.